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The run up to a wedding can be incredibly stressful (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co,uk)

Last month, my fiancé proposed to me at the Shard with a beautiful London sunset as the backdrop. We had been dating for 18 months and had talked about marriage and future plans, so it wasn’t a huge surprise. But it was still very exciting when he went down on one knee.

As I accepted his proposal, we both felt huge excitement as we started this new chapter. We were buzzing to share the news with our nearest and dearest.

In the days following, I had so much adrenaline that I found it hard to sleep. I was regularly lying awake at 4am reading messages or trying to absorb the occasion. I found it hard to switch off.

I wondered whether others had gone through something similar following their engagement, and how best to deal with the stress.

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Alison Gardiner, a psychologist and sleep expert at SleepStation, which provides cognitive behavioural therapy and has been commissioned and approved by the NHS, tells Metro.co.uk: ‘Insomnia varies in how long it lasts and how often. It can be short-term (acute insomnia) or can last a long time (chronic insomnia). Acute insomnia can last from one night to a few weeks.’

Insomnia is defined as chronic when a person has trouble sleeping at least three nights a week, for a month or longer. For many people, a stressful event could be the trigger that stops them sleeping. This is normal, until insomnia becomes chronic.

Mental health problems and insomnia often come together. It’s been estimated that 60% of people who meet the criteria for major depressive disorders complain of insomnia.

But life events, such as the stress of an engagement and planning a wedding, can lead to missed or poor sleep.

Cat Phillips, a blogger and writer, says: ‘I had sleep issues when planning my wedding. I had months of bad anxiety dreams about everything going wrong, and a reccurring dream where I needed to go to the church but one drama after another kept stopping me.

Cat says she was keen to make sure everything was thoroughly planned and set up so that the day would run smoothly. The stress was heightened by a recent addition to the family.

‘I also had a newborn baby while organising the wedding, so I desperately needed sleep all the time,’ she explains.

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Staring a fitness routine proved to be a positive step.

An exercise plan can help to ease the stress of wedding planning (Picture: Ella Byworth)

Cat says: ‘Exercise really helped with my baby blues, it was great for relieving depression. Most important to remember, for me, was that its not about the wedding, but about the marriage.’

Abigail Chandler, a writer and editor, has also experienced anxiety and insomnia while planning her wedding.

She says: ‘After I got engaged I really struggled to sleep for a couple of weeks. At first it was because I was excited, and then it was because I was dwelling on the enormous amount of work ahead of me to plan the wedding.

‘The lack of sleep made me run-down, which triggered my anxiety, which led to even more worrying. It ended up making me ill.

‘I was still really happy and excited, but I was having anxiety flare ups and picking up every infection going. It wore off eventually, though, and I’m now enjoying wedding planning, but I do have to be careful to look after myself when stressed.’

So what can you do if you suffer from insomnia and stress in the lead up to the big day?

Beatrix Schmidt, a coach at the Sleep Deep Method, has some suggestions: ‘What I found through working with professionals to overcome insomnia is that when stress levels don’t decrease, the body is in almost constant tension, which can make it impossible for the body to rest. We keep experiencing the energy roller coaster of adrenaline.

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‘Insomnia can be heightened when planning a wedding. [You have to take into account that] a lot of emotion comes with it: pleasing other people, making sure things are ‘perfect’. A lot of the time, the main cause is raised emotions and our inability to stay present in the moment.’

So what can both you, and your partner, do? If insomnia is becoming chronic, ask your GP for a referral. They can refer you to the Sleep Station NHS programme, refer you to therapy, or may prescribe you short term sleeping pills.

Beatrix says: ‘The best way to work through wedding stress and insomnia is to communicate regularly, honestly and factually about what is happening – this means no blaming, no shaming, taking out the emotional charge of it all. Not everyone handles stress and insomnia the same way.’

Mary Baird Wilcock, coach, wedding planner and host of the Simplifiers Podcast, which covers self-care, says: ‘I’ve planned hundreds of weddings for clients and find that couples really lose sleep and struggle at the beginning of the planning. Your emotions are whirled together like tornado.’

Mary offers some simple, practical tips for looking after yourself ahead of a wedding:

Find an experienced wedding planner or helpful relative who will guide you through the decisions and help you spend your money wisely on the details that matter.

If you’re anxious about the wedding, invest in a membership at a yoga studio or another form exercise. Whether you’re doing couples yoga together or simply a bit of hot yoga on your own, you can release your anxiety and frustration while planning your wedding to improve your mental health overall.

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Sleep is a non-negotiable. Use an app to gently remind you when it’s time to unplug for the evening and go to sleep. You can also use it wake you up in the morning, track your sleep times and help you stay on track to get your seven to eight hours a night.